Communicating in Context - Essay Example

the major happenings that marked my journey as a young reporter in the time frame spanning 1880 to 1910 in arguably, the fastest and most active city in the world; New York. When I got to New York, I worked odd jobs in upcoming publishing houses for a period of 2 years until I landed a job at the New York World Newspaper. The paper was at the time for the most part, conservative with only a few stories catching the average reader’s attention. Then there came Joseph Pulitzer who purchased the paper in 1883: 2 months after I joined the organization.

He was extremely passionate about the minorities of America: the immigrants, the poor, and the extremely marginalized working class at the time. However, in the same range his passion for competition with William Hearst of the New York Journal; burned just as bright. In that light, our informal job description evolved between keeping up with the minorities issues just as well as keeping tabs on William Hearst; lest he out do our employer. While at first, my interest was to ensure that I had a job at all, with time I grew direly passionate about the minorities as I worked with Pulitzer.

However, his leadership strategy, which was more dictatorial than authoritative, soon overwhelmed me. I decided to try my hand elsewhere and what better place than at my former employer’s nemesis doorstep. I joined the New York Journal in 1888 while it was under the leadership of William Hearst. Much like my previous employer, Hearst was equally passionate. However, he was much more controversial as he constantly referred his readers to “the Maine.” This American Ship had exploded under mysterious circumstances in Cuba.

One would even say it became an obsession of his: constantly mentioning “the Maine” in articles that had little or nothing to do with the topic. His remarks contributed greatly to the occurrence of the Spanish American War. Other than the constant tag of war between Hearst and Pulitzer, the journalism